It is often said a budget is a policy statement.

For the past several years, the policy set by most area budgets is that of treading water. Do what has to be done, and only what has to be done, while keeping taxes as low as possible. That’s a sensible overall policy given the struggle many of us have paying our taxes each year, but it is also a policy statement that has resulted in stagnation.

It is encouraging, then, to see recent discussions by the Chautauqua County Legislature’s Planning and Economic Development Committee that places a direct policy priority on adding jobs. Kevin Sanvidge, county IDA director and planning and economic development director, said he has goals of adding 500 new jobs to the county economy by 2017, increasing taxable sales by 6 percent and adding enough new taxable property to the tax rolls that the county’s taxable assessment increases by 6 percent. Sanvidge proposes to do this by business attraction and retention work, strategic lending, infrastructure investments and workforce development. Sanvidge is also asking for one additional junior planner to help promote business in the county.

We were more encouraged to hear what Shaun Heenan, D-Dunkirk, and George Borrello, R-Irving, had to say in response. “If we are going to show we’re really serious about it, you should kick it up a notch and go for one more,” Heenan said. Borrello, meanwhile, added, “We’ve got a roadmap to our success, and now we need the resources to get there. As a legislator and someone very active with economic development, I’m willing to put those resources there.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a policy statement.

We are sure legislators will have some cuts to make when they start digging into County Executive Vince Horrigan’s proposed budget when it is unveiled tonight. Our legislators should certainly make sure the county is running as efficiently as possible. Adding staff members, provided they are able to meet Sanvidge’s goals, will be a worthwhile investment.